


Always Be There For You

by theunknownaura30



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Best Friends, Coffee, Complicated Relationships, Doubt, Drabble, F/M, First Dates, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Light Angst, Moving On, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Past Relationship(s), Sad and Happy, Understanding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 12:39:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19107274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theunknownaura30/pseuds/theunknownaura30
Summary: Nathalie and Gabriel go out for coffee, while Gabriel ponders not only what he wants, but what he can do.





	Always Be There For You

He stood, mouth agape, mind in shock.  _ Would you like to go for coffee?  _ Oh, was the offer tempting. So he'd said yes. Out they went, and Gabriel could tell, Nathalie was gleeful. A part of him was glad to see his friend so happy. He grinned too. But at the back of his mind, he wondered if he was really her antidote. 

 

 

Her fingers tapped against her cup, and he was at ease in her presence, as he had always been. She was such a comfort, a delight. A part of him, though, was jittery. They were officially on a date. She expected him to act a certain way. He should have acted a certain way. He did like Nathalie. So he gave her a soft, fond smile, and raised the paper cup to his lips. Drank. As he set it down, he found her gazing at him, almost imperceptibly. 

 

 

When he caught her eye, she chuckled and looked down at the table. "It's truly nice to be here with you, sir," she said, in a voice filled with plain adoration. Her grin was tender, and it made his heart just about melt. He laid a hand on hers. "I think so too, Nathalie." She blushed and glanced down at their hands, unbelieving. She let hers rest under his, for a moment. She didn't know what to do, and he slowly slid his hand back to his drink. Stirred it. 

 

 

Nerves ate at him still, and he felt slightly lonely. He felt a voice at the back of his mind, but he didn't know whose it was or what it was saying. He loved Nathalie, he truly did, but was he ready for this? What would Emilie say?  _ I never meant to let you down. You must hate me right now.  _ She still meant so much to him, too. He took a bite of his pastry, its crumbs and sugar falling onto the napkin.

 

 

Nathalie bit her lip and sipped her coffee. She supposed she should have expected this sort of silence. She mustered a half smile, in a way done less to express happiness but more so to ease into the toughness for the both of them. She laid a hand on his shoulder and gazed into his eyes with a sympathetic, understanding stare. He looked utterly miserable. She knew he didn't enjoy this date, and the thoughts that it imposed. It only spurred her to support him more, to want to wash away that consuming pain, perhaps make him smile once again.

 

 

"Let's take you home, Gabriel." She hoisted up his heavy, sullen body with a steady grip, and he rose to his feet, casting her a grateful smile. She nodded and returned it, and with that, the pair made their way back to the mansion, their shadows flitting behind them like butterflies in the careless afternoon. 

 

 

Gabriel turned to her and squeezed her hand tightly, holding it for a moment before releasing it, causing it to swing by her side. A slightly pained smile held his lips then, as one did hers.

 

 

Perhaps another day.


End file.
